Chapter 6
Goodnight Kiss

Link paced the interior of Zelda's bedroom fervently as Impa struggled to rouse the unconscious princess. He would cast quick glances in Zelda's direction to check her status. The sickly pallor of her normally pale face was frightening, but plans needed to be made and time was not of essence. Even though the spirit's power over her had temporarily waned, it seemed Zelda had hardly any strength left in her.

His focus on her did not help free his mind of unwanted thoughts. The spirit's desire to force the princess on him brought to life emotions he did not want to feel. He loved Zelda, but as a close friend. She had sacrificed, as had he, and that was where their bond ended, or so he wished it could be so. Deep down he knew his heart yearned for her as more than a friend, but that opposed too many of his logical goals and it was not a future he could reasonably foresee. That kiss might have been spirit induced, but he had kissed the lips of the princess. He had come here intent on keeping an emotional distance, and he could see now that he was failing.

"Link!" Impa called to him. The impatience in her voice made him realize this had not been the first time she had said his name and he snapped to a startled halt and turned to face her.

Zelda sat against the bed's frame and stared with a haunted look in her eyes. Her normal luster was gone. "Sheik, the spirit, is a fault brought into this world of my own making. It is only right that its power over me should bring about my demise," she said despondently.

Link returned her stare completely dumbfounded. "What?" he asked hesitantly at the lifelessness behind her words.

"I was fully aware when it spoke to you, and it was right. I have hidden behind these castle walls for far too long. The spirit showed me things…I do not understand what its history is to make it feel so, but now its hatred consumes me and makes it stronger," she explained. "As the only heir to Hyrule's throne, the spirit is in a position to cause problems, and you all can't know when to trust me. And the spirit wants to hurt you, Link, not physically but…it senses something and seeks to turn it against you. This spirit works for someone to some extent, and that someone would not mind watching you suffer. The only answer I can see is to destroy my body so that the spirit cannot use me to evil ends."

"Princess--…" Impa began with a shocked tone, but Link swiftly interrupted.

"You mean to say we should kill you? That's your solution?" he snapped angrily. "And if you want me to do it, that's out of the question. Thereare those that care for you that you would be hurting with such a decision. Let's not forget that you are the only heir to the Hylian throne. Your death would succeed only in throwing the land into political chaos. You saved lives by reverting time, Zelda, so the spirit's anger with you makes no sense."

"Maybe, but the anger it feels still exists. Besides, I'll marry Brayden as soon as possible if he'll consent to it and even if I do not live long enough to bear his children, at least Hyrule will have an able future king by way of marriage." The monotone in her voice did not go away.

Link visibly cringed at this idea. "Brayden is an idiot and you know it. Impa, is there anyway to exorcise this spirit as you mentioned before? Surely you would not consent to her insanity?"

"Of course not," Impa automatically answered his second question first, "and I have asked around, but there has been no one with such knowledge.

"It would make no sense for me to continue when the spirit can take over at any crucial moment," Zelda argued. "It tried to kill my father and I'm sure it has no limits."

Link studied her intently. Was this a ploy of the spirit's to trick them into the unthinkable? Link's fists curled into tight balls at the thought of this, but then an idea came to him. It took effort to keep the enthusiasm from his voice and maintain his calm demeanor, but he managed and said, "There is another option," he looked meaningfully at Zelda as he said this. "In my travels I met a man that could prove useful. I thought he was…crazy…at the time, but now I see how his expertise might work well for our purposes."

Impa perked up with interest at this statement, but said nothing as a sign that he should continue.

"His name was Abel Marion. He lives to the west of here, a good several days journey across the mountains beyond our own Death Mountain. His house was filled with all kinds of books on spirits…"

"Why did you deem him as crazy?" Impa asked the obvious question.

"Well, I had taken care of some monsters in the area, so he wanted me to become sort of an apprentice to him in dealing with the 'supernatural'…When I refused, he accused me of being possessed by an evil spirit, and that's all it took."

Some color seemed to return to Zelda's cheeks at this and slowly but surely, life returned to her and the monotone disappeared. "But would he be able to rid me of this spirit?"

"That's what I don't know," Link said, "but right now it seems to be the best choice we've got."

"Is there any way you could go on your own and convince him to come to Hyrule with you?" Impa asked.

Link shook his head, "It's too risky to leave Zelda here at this point, there's no telling what Sheik might do if you happened to get too busy and had to leave a not-so-capable babysitter."

Impa thought this over for a minute, "Then it would just be you, Zelda, and the spirit? That in itself seems too risky."

"I won't need much sleep and Epona can get us through the first part of the journey fast enough that it won't take too long."

"Hmm…Excuse us, Princess, but I must speak with Link privately for a minute." Impa signaled for him to follow her out into the hallway and he met Zelda's gaze with a similar one filled with the same question, as neither knew what this was all about.

Impa shut the door firmly behind them and faced Link resolutely with stern eyes. "Do you love the princess?" she asked him abruptly, but in a hushed tone.

Link was taken aback by the question, and he gaped at her in his astonishment.

Without further delay, Impa amended her words, "I'm sorry, that didn't come out quite right. Would you be able to uphold yourself well enough to keep the spirit from compromising the both of you?"

Link turned a deep shade of red. "There's no uncertainty about that, of course I would."

Impa raised an eyebrow at his confidence, "Did that fight with Brayden not teach you that there are ways to turn your own strengths against you? This spirit is crafty and should it want to try anything of that nature, it would manipulate things to get its way. A few days of just the two of you is plenty of time."

He stood his ground, but would not meet her eyes. Still red-faced, he felt incredibly awkward having this conversation, especially because how direct, yet cool, Impa was approaching it. Now he wondered what other people thought of him when he was able to keep a mask of total control in place. Maybe the spirit was right…he was just pathetic.

"It won't be a problem," he struggled to persuade her.

"Let us continue talk of this journey then with Zelda and see if she has any ideas to contribute," Impa said, reaching to open the door again.

"Not of this issue, I hope," Link mumbled; even more so embarrassed that his words forced him to acknowledge the reality of what she had said.

"Oh no, that is a matter for the spirit and I certainly would not want to give it any ideas," Impa attempted a reassuring smile, but Link ignored it as they reentered the bedroom.

Zelda had regained the strength to move to the end of the bed where she now waited expectantly for their return. "Well, are we to go?" she asked.

"For now the decision is unmade. There are too many days for Link to keep up with the spirit by himself," her caretaker stated easily.

"Are there no villages where we might stop at along the way?" Zelda suggested.

"There…are…" Link hesitantly said this and flinched. "They are mostly dominated by…some rather crude men, however, and it is hard to find passage through their gates anyway. The Goron Village is much too close to take refuge there."

"Then that is not a possibility either," Impa said. "I would go, but while your father is gone and with you soon to depart, I have too many duties here to fulfill."

"So tell me how you convinced my father to 'vacation' at such a time again?" Zelda asked suspiciously.

A guilty look breached Impa's features, "Well, actually, I requested the Zora king to arrange an important summons for your father, through Princess Ruto of course, to talk with him of important diplomatic matters that were of such great importance that they could not wait, and off he went. The Zoras and their protection of Hyrule's water supply are too important for the king to put off anyway, though I've no idea what they are doing on their end…It should be enough to keep the king oblivious to the happenings here though, and that is what we needed."

There came a sudden knock on the door that stopped any commentary on Impa's words. Link grimaced when Brayden was allowed entry, though the bruise on his forehead offered him a slight condolence.

"What can I do for you?" Impa asked him politely.

"I came to see how the princess was faring; I had heard she'd taken ill."

"I'm fine now, Brayden," Zelda affirmed to him from her perch on the bed.

"How would you like to accompany the princess on a journey across the mountains?" Impa asked suddenly.

Link eyed her with undisguised annoyance at this as Brayden said, "I would be honored, but whatever for?"

"That I cannot tell you now, but I must depart for a few minutes, so if you all would accommodate the princess, I shall return shortly."

As soon as Impa left, Brayden immediately hammered Link with the question, "And would you be accompanying the princess on this journey?"

Link nodded with an antagonizing smirk, "That would be a given."

Brayden seemed unperturbed by this, "And just who else, an entourage of guards?"

Link's smirk widened, "Nope, it will be just us three."

Brayden was shocked by this, "Then where would our protection lie? To cross the mountains without any is dangerous."

"My skills will offer protection enough," Link said smugly.

"And what say you, Princess?" Brayden asked her.

"The two of you will prove ample to defend me," Zelda said. Link's attitude turned to suspicion at her blatant goading of Brayden's over-inflated ego. The noble's skills could not defend anyone, even with help.

In an effort to retaliate against Link's defeat of him earlier, Brayden scoffed, "Oh, and Link, did you happen to collect your prize?"

Link pierced him with an icy glare, but said nothing.

"So the idiocy really had a prize, did it?" Zelda said, but she did not seem angry. "Well, what was it?"

"Obviously not then, I see. The prize was to place a kiss upon your fair lips, my lovely princess. Just know that if he does not claim his prize, I am always available."

Impa had walked back in as he had been saying this and glowered at Link in a silent referral to the conversation they had just had out in the hallway.

"Well, I hope tomorrow at dawn is not too soon to get your travels underway. That might seem a bit too hurried along, but the sooner it is done, the better."

"To what town is it across the mountains we would go to, anyway?" Brayden asked.

Impa looked to Link for the answer. "We go to a village, actually, several miles from the mountain pass. The nearest town from there is Dohasehn," he said.

"Oh…" he seemed slightly disturbed at the mention of the town's name for some reason, but did not comment further. "Well then, I suppose we should eat a good dinner tonight and build our strength for tomorrow. How about it princess, will you dine with me tonight? I do hope someone will be packing my things, though."

"Food and other such necessities will be waiting for you in Kakariko Village tomorrow, though you'll have to pack a few pairs of clothes on your own. The weather can be frigid or it can be hot in the mountains, so pack wisely but lightly as you'll be carrying most of your things once you all pass where the horses can make it without difficulty."

xxxxx

"It would seem our friend Abel will be entertaining visitors soon. We can't have him exorcise our friend, now can we? That would ruin everything we planned for," Kotake cackled at the absurdity of such a thought.

"Hmph, then let's not allow their journey to be an easy one," Koume replied. "A bit of heat ought to make their lives miserable. They've already thrown out our plan to kill the king, after all."

"No sister, ice is the key. Bad weather conditions will slow them even more so, and also give our creatures the element of surprise.

Koume pouted, "And why do you get to do everything?"

"Because I'm the smarter one," she scorned her sister, but before Koume could get her own retort in, Kotake continued, "but I suppose I will let you decide which minions to place, though it can't be anything too deadly. We wouldn't want our creature getting caught in the crossfire."

Koume was evidently appeased by this and forgot the snide comment about her intelligence, "Thank you sister, though you will not get away without the aid of my fire in this mission. Time is all we need for our special one to accomplish what we planned, and I've got just the monsters in mind to buy us that time."

The twins hovered around each other. They cackled heartily with thoughts turned to what was to come.

xxxxx

Zelda focused intently on the clothes laid out before her. Impa would have saved her the effort of packing had she not sensed her charge's need to turn her attention to something, so had merely laid out a wide variety of traveling clothing for her to choose from and pack in the provided travel bag.

Her immediate inclination was to choose a few darkly colored cloaks, and she did so by laying them aside. The few choices that followed soon joined them in a pile as did the outfit she planned to wear on the first day.

Returning the other clothes to her closet and tightly packing her selections did not take nearly as long as she had hoped for and her mind wandered back to exactly what she had been trying to get away from.

When she had regained her body, she had felt sick and pathetically weak. Yet, she had suddenly found herself recovering quickly and overwhelmed by an unnatural giddiness for who knew what. There was no plausible explanation that she could see for this…it was just weird.

She was excited to go on an 'adventure' with Link, but she knew discreetly that it was for all the wrong reasons. She had remained outwardly calm when hearing of the 'prize' for their stupid fight, but inwardly she had been thrilled that Link had agreed to such a thing, though whether he was going to go through with it or not was another story. Remembering the way he had acted before the fight, how happy he had been, was an even bigger shock compared to the prize itself, though she briefly recalled that the spirit had pretty much nailed that part of it already.

Thinking on the spirit now, she realized how odd it felt knowing it had a name. Sheik had been nothing more than a disguise wrought by magic and it utterly baffled her as to how any of her current situation had come about. Her talk of death earlier had been motivated into her mouth and the words had come out before she had even realized what she was saying. She felt, however, that the spirit did not really want her to die, but was a manipulator able to somehow sense things about Link and say things to lead to its ideal end result.

Zelda sighed. The thought of ridding herself of the spirit on her upcoming journey was enthralling, but it scared her that the spirit could have concocted plans in regards to the trip there. She sensed it would not allow her to mention anything of her fears, however, so she felt no sense in even trying.

She stared out her window and noticed a light on in the stables far below, and she realized that it had to be Link prepping Epona for what lay ahead. She knew the night to be adequately warm so though she only trod about in a nightgown, she decided to venture out to the stables to talk to him.

Her steady walk down the stairs was uninterrupted, so it did not take her long to arrive at her destination.

"An early morning awaits us tomorrow, Princess, are you ready?" he asked her without turning around and the formality of her title in such a serious voice concerned her.

"I just came to say goodnight," she said softly, stunned by his bluntness.

He swung around to face her then and stared shamefaced at his feet. "Oh…well then, goodnight…Zelda."

A strong desire suddenly filled her to embrace him and she did not know where it came from, although she had a feeling it was the spirit's work influencing her to such boldness. She stepped lightly towards him and the words escaped her, "Link…would you like to claim that prize?"

"I thought you hadn't endorsed that fight?" Link said teasingly in an effort to hide his sudden embarrassment.

"Either way, you won, so why not?"

Link shook his head, "I think we'd better not."

Zelda took another step towards him, but this time he stepped back an equal distance. "It's nothing more than a kiss. Besides, had Brayden won, he certainly would not let his prize go to waste."

"So now you are demeaning yourself to a trophy meant to be won?" he asked, searching for a way out. "Anyway, the kiss was already given. Where's your sense of propriety?"

"Propriety? I think we've been through too much for that. And before, that was the spirit so it doesn't count. You don't understand, Link. Sheik always channels feelings to me when it's the one that instigates anything, but this time I want control. Please Link, one kiss never hurt anything."

"I…can't…Zelda…" he seemed to be losing his control and that was all she needed.

Propelled forward by an inner force, it took only a few more steps to close the distance between them and meet his lips.

Her actions had certainly proven braver than her thoughts. Her heart fluttered at their contact as fear filled her with the thought that he might reject her, but he did just the opposite. Footsteps echoing distantly from the outside of the stable brought him back, though, and he immediately ended it.

Zelda thought she detected a mix of pain and sorrow in his eyes, but those flickers were quickly snuffed out.

"Come Princess, I shall escort you to your room," he said stiffly and this switch back to a formality puzzled her. She hesitantly took his proffered arm and they stiffly walked back to the castle in silence.

Zelda's mind swirled in a daze and she had not noticed their arrival to her room.

"Good night, Princess," Link bid her upon reaching the door. Without another word, he left her standing there alone. She stared silently after him, even when he disappeared from view around a bend in the hallway.

Had she been right to press him? The last thing she wanted had been to hurt Link, but the look of pain in his eyes had been undeniable and she could not erase it from her mind.

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The town name Dohasehn was found by doing a google search. I'm not giving any serious thought to it, but my search was "legend of zelda town at base of mountains". I figured Kakariko Village would come up since, you know, lol, but this is actually a town name from…somewhere, lol, but I thought it was better than making up something horrible on my own because that would be lame so I…borrowed it…

This chapter has 3,483 words. Whoo, new record! For this story that is, lol. I'm terribly picky about where I want chapters to end, so this one couldn't until right then, but hopefully it turned out all right. I had to make some major changes to what I previously had saved on my computer because the tone of it was much too upbeat and the flow wasn't very smooth. Hopefully that's all patched up now, but I think I let myself work too close to last minute on some things that I wanted to change so I'll see how that goes. Well, thank you reviewers and don't forget to check out the replies on my homepage! .

-blondie91